Another 200 miles.. and now flying the Italian flag.

This is Pula – Thank you Duncan for the video.

Downwind sailing – managed 8.7 knots

 

23-24 June Crossing to Sardinia. 194 miles

We set off in company for Sardinia, not a great deal of wind with us so Big Blue made a guest appearance for a while. Must have been fate but we took the chute down and 5 minutes later the wind had changed direction  by 180⁰ and increased to 18knots – phew. Glad we got the beast down as trying to get the mass of material back in a blow would have been a bit of a pain. Wind here in the Med is either all or nothing. Mostly today its nothing, so engine on to alleviate the boredom of 2knots bobbing along in the heat of 40⁰ with no breeze. Wish we had a Bimini.

Howard dropped down for a nap before taking the first shift of the night. The girls settled down for some star gazing up on deck. Watch swapped at 02:00 and all going well until 05:00. We are sandwiched between two tankers, one heading our way, the other heading away from us so we are unable to alter course to gain more distance from either. They loom out of the darkness like slow moving slugs belying the fact they are actually making over 17 knots, more than 3 times our speed. Then at 05:20 i spot an odd light in the sky – it looked like flashes of lightening but small coloured red and green when viewed through the binoculars. It darted around in an erratic pattern so can’t believe it to have been a plane – a UFO perhaps?

Busy watch tonight for me. I get a visitor at 05:40followed by 3 more. Dragonflies, believed by my Mother In Law to hold magical feelings. It was lovely to have them with us and even more so when the girls woke and they were still here taking a rest on Arctic’s rails and wheel. Both Jessica and Olivia had them land on their hands and feet and Howard had one land on his hand too, A magical start to the day for them and a nice thought about Grandma watching out for them too.

As we approach Sardinia wind gets up – typical. Not had it all day and now when we don’t want it we get lots. Makes cooking dinner on the go a real pain. Pan slid off the top even though it had the holders on and burnt a mark into the carpet. Rectangular pans are all well and good to get max space out of the oven top but when you need to hold them on it doesn’t work square peg and round hole!.  I was not amused. We finally anchored in Cala Forte at 21:00 just as the sun dropped over the horizon and the natural light of the day was lost. Samji arrived sometime in the early hours of the morning.

24- 29 June – Calasetta – Sardinia

A swift move from the bay we were in to a more sheltered one across the water. We passed the coastline and noticed a ship wrecked on the shore. It looked to be a large schooner, my thoughts go to the crew and how on earth it had managed to end up in such a position. Had they been overpowered by the wind rushing through the entrance or had they dragged anchor. Who knows but it was very sad to see such a magnificent ship laying on rocks in this day and age with all the technological advances we have on board to aide us all. I hope that no one was injured or hurt too severely.

We settled into the bay in thick mud – much like the East Coast of the UK once again and get ready for the high winds which are due to hit us for the next few days and boy did it blow. A hot hairdryer of a wind, full of sand covering the boat in a red dust, fabulous even more cleaning and dragging the boat pretty quick through the sloppy muddy bottom. Luckily there is only us and Samji here so we can drag for miles without fear of hitting anyone. We re-set again and settle back for the next lot of wind.

Calasetta was a sleepy place with lots of charm. Meandering streets where locals sold home grown produce and sat outside their doors watching the world go by. Its more expensive to buy things here – let’s take fresh milk. A prime resource for everyone:- In Cartagena we got 1.5 ltrs for €1.19, In the Balearics it was €1.49 for 1.5ltrs and here it is €1.98 for 1 ltr. A huge increase for a staple food source, our budget is not going to stretch too far here.

There was one night when I was cooking and upon looking out of the porthole window by the oven I spot a flotilla of boats heading our way. We head up into the cockpit to be met by over 25 boats gathered just by us. There is much hooting of horns and shouting and we wonder what on earth is happening. Wreaths are thrown into the sea, a huge cheer goes up and the horns start again. Arctic joins in with her siren and the boats all move back to the shelter of the harbour. We have no idea what it is about but lots of places have festivals for almost anything you can think of so it’s probably one of those. Fireworks and music follow later on into the night so I guess fun was had by all.

30 June – Malfatano – Sardinia

A beautiful bay but we have engine issues so we are concerned about having to sail into an anchorage and anchor under sail. The throttle seems to engage the gear, it clonks like it always does but we get no forward momentum. Seems a tad odd as its been fine up to now. Anyway it behaves as we approach the options of the 3 bays to anchor in. The first is pretty full so we move to check out number 2. It’s too shallow for us with underlying rocks so we go for number 3. Its crystal clear water with sand and rock on the bottom, we drop anchor and hold, great. When it’s checked we are holding on a rock – not so great so we lift and re-set again. All ok this time apart from the swell. It’s rolling us broadside so a rocky night will be had unless we place a stern anchor out. Wish we had done this as it would have been a much better night and might even have gotten some sleep. I hear Samji’s windlass and engine running. They’re leaving the bay as its too rocky. We follow in a few hours after having a quick chat with other friends on a Najad – Penelope3. They head to the next bay with us to catch up on adventures had this year so far.

1 – 7 July 2017 – Porto D’Agumu near Pula

Lobs pot competition was the fun for this trip. If you spot a white one its 15pts, Black is 10pts and any other colour is 5 pts. We have not seen so many since the coastline of Portugal. This coastline is now finally showing signs of beaches and life after looking barren and uninviting. However the downside is that most when viewed through the binoculars are covered in rows of bright coloured umbrellas and sun loungers – my idea of hell.

We anchor in a large bay – completely empty apart from the small dinghies from the sailing club on the beach. Sandy patches show themselves as big spots of light blue on the water’s surface. We choose one and drop. The bottom is littered with large blocks of stone that were once Roman Villas on land. A huge archaeological site is just across the bay. My dad would love the history here.

The provisioning was a bit of an issue. It’s a huge walk into Pula town but worth it to find a large supermarket – budget goes a lot further when the shop is not a small corner one. We pass big horned cattle, mostly bulls and bullocks, sheep and goats grazing in the fields with bells around their necks hiding in the small patches of shade under the olive trees. Finally feels like we are getting to see the inside of Sardinia and not just the coastline. Downside is its baking hot and 5 mile walk, so pretty hard going, especially when you’re fully laden with shopping. Ice-cream is a no go buy because of this and it’s sad as it’s a very welcome treat after dinner.

Our days here are spent schooling, swimming and having a nice relaxing time with friends. Penelope 3 leaves to head off for Sicily and then Greece, their winter destination for this year. The girls teach Pat and Duncan how to play Canasta and Pat wins with Olivia as her coach, good girl Livvy. Well the draw of other great friends beckons and we leave Samji to head off to meet up with Albatross our sailing companions since Northern France.

8 July – Capo Carbonara – Sardinia

A very large popular bay full of Italian boats which in turn are full of Italian families. Most boats have over 8 people and children on board so it seems it’s a real family affair in these waters. The bay is huge which is just as well as there is an awful lot of boats here. But it’s not noisy like Porto Vells was, No loud motorboats vying for attention just lots of families having fun on the water. We anchor in sand with 5.6mtrs of water and see that the bottom has lots of flat fish swimming along and hiding themselves in the sand. When the girls check their book they find that they look like Turbot. This is the only bay we have been able to see the anchor from the deck of the boat. The water is so clear and still.

A wonderfully  warm reception from Maritha and Rainer our very dear friends who we met so many months ago, so lovely to see them both again.

 

 

 

9 July – Capo Ferrato – Sardinia

Nice bay but open to the swell. Nothing much to see apart from the beach; just a place to drop anchor in 6.5 mtrs of water over a sand bottom. Due to the swell into this bay we moved to anchor around the corner for a more settled night. The bay was just again the same – beach at the end and nothing else. Aurora surprised us by coming in late – Ulli and Mariner who we had not seen since being in Cartagena all those months ago. It was so nice to see them again as they swam across for a quick beer on the boat.

10 – 17 July – Porto Frailis – Sardinia

The coastline is getting more mountainous as we head up the east coast. Large empty beaches stretch for miles, not a great deal else to see though. I got really bored on this trip. It was only 47miles but seemed to last forever. People think that living a dream is super, well there are lots of days when boredom sets in and you wonder about your purpose. I am not sure I’m ready for retiring if I’m honest. Days spent doing not a lot sound great but actually when you’re in a small space – sometimes unable to get away from that space is not brilliant. I know I’m really lucky to be able to have the opportunity to do this but it’s not like being on holiday. It’s hard when money needs to stretch and you cannot do or see lots of things you would like to. There is not the ability to be frivolous like on holiday – it’s our existence and if we don’t make it work then it will mean we have to return back home much sooner than we plan.

Anyway – being with the children is great fun – watching them grow, change and develop in more ways than one is fabulous. So I draw a deep breath ( usually heard by Howard) and just get on with it or with making another list for shopping, deciding what’s for dinner or what to teach in the next lesson for the girls.

Porto Frailis according to the pilot book we have (which admittedly is a bit out of date) should have been a place not to go to. Jet skis and pedalos galore was what the book promised – instead a lovely bay, lots of sandy bottom and 5.5 mtrs depth to anchor in. Not bad actually. Ok the tourist complex does generate noise of an evening as you’d expect but I’ve given up thinking we will find a bay where we are the only boat and no sign of life on land. That’s the thing of dreams and that is an impossible find as all the other boats are also looking for the same place. We did move round the corner to Arbatax during our stay here but I’ll let Howard tell that wonderful tale as he was the unfortunate one who had to deal with the ridiculous bureaucracy.

18 July – Cala Luna – Sardinia

Hardly any wind so it’s going to be a bit of a drag today. I was not wrong, a very boring trip with nothing to see, no wildlife or other boats. It has really surprised me that we have not seen any dolphins since we rounded Gibraltar. I guess the amount of fish that is being taken out of the sea every year is having an impact on the food chain so it cannot sustain large mammals like the Atlantic can.

We arrive at the bay and its manic. There is a small beach which seems to be “The place to be”. Small boats are ferrying inordinate amounts of people to the shore and there is not space for them. There are lovely looking caves dotted along the shoreline and look a great place for the girls to go exploring once the hoards have all gone home. We anchor in amongst other boats – one being a huge sailing yacht called Twizzle. When we look her up she is for charter – oh to have the money for her, she was massive and looked fab although I don’t think I’d want the upkeep charges for her.

Maritha and Rainer take the girls off our hands for an hour and take them to explore the caves after dinner. We hear them squealing with laughter as they come back from Albatross at high speed once Maritha has been dropped off. She’s not a fan of going fast unlike Jess and Liv. A nice calm night ready for the 40+ miles we have to undertake tomorrow.

19- 20 July – Cala D cavello / Pta Pietra Bianca

A good journey. After a slow start the wind picks up and we are running down wind. We are also goose winging with the main and Genoa to stabilise the boat. We get a good speed going and are contacted by Rainer asking if we have the engine on as we are catching him. He has had his cruising chute up in the light wind we had but ours was stuck in the water tight locker under the dinghy which we managed to get on the deck. We hit 8.7 knots and decide that as the waves are twisting us to be close to broadside on it would pay to reef the genie. We do this and still manage 7 knots. We come into the bay just behind Albatross who at one point had been 3 miles ahead. Good sailing at last.

An absolutely beautiful place which is unfortunately what everyone else who is here thinks too. It’s pretty packed but luckily the bays are huge. There even seems to be a segregation going on, Motor boats seem to favour a bay across the water from the yachts. One monstrous one has a huge slide that would not be out of place in a water park running from its top deck into the water – the girls would have loved to have had a go on that – as would Howard I bet.

The wind is pretty fierce funnelling down the mountains – we are sailing in, still with 22 knots blowing on genie alone.  We take her in as I have to go up front to undo the tie downs and halyard that are holding the dinghy on deck. It’s a bit of a bind to have to do this every time you need to anchor but it gives you an extra knot of speed without having to tow her behind. That’s everything especially as Rainer and Howard seem to be racing all the time.

We have dinner and settle down for the night but not before a small boat engines past selling ice-cream, crepes, alcohol etc. What a fabulous idea. The only other place I have seen this type of thing happening is the ice cream boat on the Norfolk broads.

Arctic and Samji being the only boats in a very large bay

 

 

 

21^st  – 26^th July – Olbia – Sardinia.

So we reach the most northerly tip of our journey on Sardinia. It’s not a particularly great view. The port is a busy cruising route for island hopping ferries so the channel down the river is pretty busy and not very wide!. The water has turned from the beautiful clear water to a dirty greeny black colour in a matter of minutes. Feels like we could be in the UK running down a river somewhere, I don’t think we will be jumping in to cool off here; we are likely to come out dirtier than when we went it.  Yuk. Not too sure what the filters for the fridge freezer will be like either working in this water – better make sure we give them a really good clean out when we get back to anchor.

At the end of the river you can moor against an old granite commercial quay right at the town centre. Officially you should ask for permission to moor up but no one does. You are also only supposed to stay 48 hours on the quay before moving off. There are very high winds due – a Mistral blowing in with 40+ knots due. We shall be here a while before we can safely move off again.  Boats keep coming in all day, the quay side is soon full and boats are now anchoring in the bowl of the quay.

Olbia itself is a nice enough town. It has lovely shops and sidewalks and is bustling at night. Unfortunately for us the local youth seem to have adopted the quayside as there meeting place starting from 20:00 until most mornings at 02:00.They shout very loudly, rev their mopeds and do wheelies, swear, cover the boat in cigarette butts and ash and generally don’t think about the fact that all the boats moored are trying to get a good night’s sleep. We have quite forgotten what it’s like being in civilisation having been on anchor for so long. Thank goodness we are not paying for this privilege, if we were I would be asking for a reduction in the fee but the marina costs here are €202 per night. That’s a ridiculous amount of money and a sum we cannot afford, and in all reality if we could we wouldn’t pay it anyway. After all, you bring your own place to cook, wash and sleep , all they give you is a place to tie onto. Not worth that kind of money no matter who you are is it?

We visit the Archaeological museum and they have a virtual reality section on as a special for this week. We take the girls around on the headphones tour for over 2 hours, taking in all the old relics, some dating back to 745bC, hard to get your head around that date. They also have a ship hull in a humidity controlled section that was part of a raid here years ago. It’s amazing that here you can touch the boat, Olivia even picked up one of the pegs that had been holding 2 planks together, not like the Mary Rose where it was all behind security glass and the like, such a different approach from the UK. Well as a treat we pay for the girls to do the virtual reality tour. It takes in different sections of the museum not permitted on the free tour and at the end you get 10 minutes of virtual reality. The girls were pretty funny to listen too. I had gone with them and Howard was waiting for us outside. The glasses got donned and at one point I hear Jessica’s chair slide backwards as she tries to get away from the snake slithering by her feet in the virtual world. They enjoyed this section very much but I will let them tell you their experiences in their pages. Suffice to say it was a very different experience from just walking around 4 walls and looking in glass cabinets. Well worth the money.

We go shopping to get Jessica some new clothes as she is just growing up so fast. She doesn’t look like she is but her clothing tells a different tale. It’s actually a delight. They are now getting to the point that they enjoy trying on new things and finding what they would like to buy instead of me doing it all for them. Olivia loves shoes as much as I do, perhaps because her feet are growing at such a fast rate we have to buy new ones nearly every couple of months. She is in a size 36 now (I think it’s a UK 4) considering she is only 7 it’s a pretty big size. We come out of the store several euros lighter and Howard is a little shocked at how much it takes to clothe a child in vest tops and shorts. Thank goodness we didn’t need dresses, school clothes, jeans etc.

 

27^th July – Santa Lucia- Sardinia

We left Maritha and Rainier who still have friends on board but are leaving to go home tomorrow so they have to stay close by. They are then also heading back to the Balearics so we won’t see them for a fair few weeks. It seems odd not being with them again as we have spent so much time with them since meeting up over a year ago. Time has certainly flown. We enjoy their company and the girls have adopted them as surrogate Aunts and Uncles, lovely as they cannot see their actual ones apart from on a skype call.

We have no real plan on where to anchor for the night so just take the wind we have and head further south again. As usual the wind is not at the angle ideal for sailing south so we have to motor sail to get distance to make Capo Heads. The coastline offers no great surprises as we head down and we anchor in a very open bay in 5.4 mtrs of water over sandy bottom. The winds are now stronger than predicted and constant, so the kite and wind surfers are out in force making good use of the free power. Howard is itching to get out there with them wishing we had kept some of our windsurf gear to have an adrenalin rush of speed across the water. Oh Well. Unfortunately for us, the adage of sun down wind down did not happen and as it did not abate we spent a very rocky night at anchor but the water was still crystal clear at least.

 

28^th – 29^th July – Cala Luna – Sardinia

The madness of Cala Luna was once again upon us. The sea state coming down the coast was pretty rough and the wind direction very fluky. It seems to enjoy taking you by surprise; one minute it will be from your portside then in a matter of seconds swings by 180⁰ to make sails back and a mad dash ensues by the crew (me) to rectify the problem.

We had managed to get the dinghy back on the foredeck again and its getting as wet as it would if it were being towed behind us. The bow is running with water as the wave’s crash over it and sends rivers of water gushing down the sides to gurgle as it goes down the drainage holes back to its home again. At least it’s keeping the teak deck from baking in the intense heat.

We anchor and decide to do a sortie of the coastline in the morning to see the hidden caves. Up early and fill the mighty mugs with tea and Hot Chocolates and head off before the madness descends on the bay again. The Dorgali coast is full of caves, Nurghars ( towers built like a beehive shape) and hidden archaeological treasures. Here at cala Luna there are caves along the beach, some of which are only accessible via the sea ( as the water travels too far up the beach) The girls and Howard explore and are surprised by the enormity of some of them. Locals camp out in the bigger cave and light fires which reflect back off the cave walls as we sit on the boat – I digress, we motor up the coastline marvelling at the shapes  in the rocks, large stalactites are seen hanging precariously above our heads. It still surprises me that there are hardly any birds or other creatures visible. We motor into a cave which has been fully adapted as a tourist mecca. We tie up along the quay used by the tourist boats who have not yet descended for the day.   Jessica says she hates what men who build things have to do to natural things. She asks me “Why do they have to put concrete everywhere and spoil a beautiful place?” “Why can’t they just leave it so the wildlife can stay and be happy? No seals come here anymore mum because of all this”. She sweeps her arm around the concrete / steel walkways which have been built to entertain us humans to show us ‘what used to be’. Well the ‘used to be’ might ‘still be’ if we humans had not interfered. The Blue Cave was home to a seal colony that used it as a breeding ground; however that is no longer the case. There are no seals at all now.  Probably more to do with the lack of sustainable food source than the wheels of commerce but overfishing has destroyed a lot of the meds sea life so I guess wheels turning in a different commerce did have an impact on it after all.

30^th – 31^st July – Porto Frailis – Sardinia

Going south still to try to get to Sicily, then onto the Aeolian Islands and Stromboli in particular for Jessica’s birthday. We think it would be nice for her to have a special treat and seeing an active volcano erupting and sending rocks into the sea as we sail passed would be hard to beat.

We make use of the engine being on for the first few hours as we sail along and make water. The coastline at closer inspection (we are sailing closer inshore than before) shows us lots of small coves which do not appear in the pilot book but boats are anchored all along the coastline. There is a marine reserve along this particular stretch of coast with certain rules however 10 knts (which is the permitted speed limit) seems to be ignored by the commercial tourist boats who fly past you at over 16.2 knts and usually way to close for a comfortable ride. Their bow wave and subsequent stern one making for a rough ride for the moments when they hit  you, after all, there isn’t much space out here is there!!!!.

We give up on using the engine and decide to tack along under sail. I usually don’t like this as we seem to go in the completely wrong direction for ages to then only tack back just a shorter way up the coast than we were when we started. We make ok progress doing this however and we decide to continue for as long as we can. Its free and we’re in no great hurry to get anywhere fast. Luckily the sun is not so fierce today so its bearable. We take 6.5 hrs to do the 29 miles so not bad anyhow.

We arrive and set off to re provision in a great shop called Eurospin. Its super value for money but as always it’s a bit of a walk. Livvy and I do the honours and decide to buy all the bulky items that won’t be bothered by the heat of the day. We think it will be much better to come back again after 6pm to get the meats, fridge items and ice cream , however fate has different ideas. The freezer has yet again decided not to work. Howard tries to fix it, he solves the issue ( thermostat again) only for the thin wire that tells the unit how cold it is/isn’t to snap off when we try to thread it through. The only Frigoboat technician we can find is in Olbia – back where we have just come from. Typical! Now we have to retrace our route again and go back to get it fixed – bleeding marvellous. Not looking like we will get to Stromboli for Jessie’s birthday at this rate.

1^st – 2^nd August – Isla Ruja – Sardinia

40 miles back up the coast and under Big Blue doing 6.3 knts. Wind drops and picks back up again but Big Blue stays working hard. Howard hand steers to give us a better ride through the water as the autopilot seems to struggle when we are surfing down the waves turning us too much. Its really hot and the girls cool off with a water pistol fight at the bow. We achieve 9knts under sail whilst towing the dinghy behind us which is amazing with no tide. A very happy day sailing.

We arrive in this beautiful anchorage, again not in the pilot book and set anchor in 7.5 mtrs of water over a mostly sand bottom although there were some weed patches and rocks too. The setting is wonderful; clear water, pure white sand beach and only two other boats in the bay. One S/Y Velocity is a magnificent dark blue hulled ketch rigged boat ( 2 masts for the non-sailors reading this) is on our rear quarter. She is huge – xxxm long by xx wide. She has lights on every spreader as well as blue underwater lights which send out a circle of light and bathe her in a spotlight effect which is duly deserved. One can only dream of owning such a yacht.

In the morning we take an early ride to the beach for the children – all 3 of them – to run and roll down the sand dunes. The water is lovely and warm, fish swim about our feet; species we have yet to see in the med, the sand is soft and pliable between your toes and the girls and Howard are whooping for joy as they run up and down the sand dunes. A sand bank stretches out from the point on the beach allowing you to walk a long way out into the water to explore the rocks below. It’s a lovely place – only slightly marred by a sewage / sulphur smell every now and again. I think it’s the Poseidon grass (protected in many places here – you’re not allowed to set anchor in it at all) which has collected on the beach and is now rotting down in the sun. We shall endeavour to return back here again if we travel back down the East Coast again. A must place to stop in our opinion.

 

3^rd – 4^th August – Olbia – Sardinia

As we set off from our anchorage we spot dolphins – 2 of them curving out of the water heading for who knows where.  They do not deviate from their course to come and play in our bow wave so we shout a greeting and each of us continues on our journey. These are the first dolphins we have seen since crossing from the Balearics, not surprising considering the lack of fish.

We head along the coast and make for the Porto Della Taverna which is a cluster of rocky outcrops with lots of bays between them. S/ Y A – the huge 3 masted boat we had last seen in Cartagena was anchored in millionaires bay – so called by us as it always contains massive motor boats. Here she sat on anchor looking very majestic and a little grubby too, we saw what an effort it was to clean her whilst in Cartagena. It’s hard enough to keep Arctic clean of all the dust which gets carried on board by the breeze let alone a boat of that magnitude.

We arrive in Olbia and tie up against the old quay again. Howard contacts the freezer guy who is very vague about the fact we have spoken to him a few days before. I do hope that we have not travelled all this way back for him not to appear. Who knows….

Friday morning arrives – the day the freezer guy should be here. Howard calls him again and they have a stilted conversation as he doesn’t speak English that well,  but it’s better than Howard’s Italian. He doesn’t seem to understand that we are actually in Olbia and that we are on the old town quay. Howard perseveres and it turns out the guy is actually on the quay, 3 boats down working on a motor boat. Howard goes and collects the thermostat and comes back to get the money to pay. He takes it back with Olivia, where the Italians laugh at something that is said. Howard says he won’t ask what that was all about but Olivia says its ok Dad I know. He said he charged you €40 and not €30 – 10 more than it should cost because you are English. That left a real sour taste in our mouth and a lesson learnt. Perhaps we should have gone back with Olivia and asked her to tell them that we enjoy being ripped off by Italians – it’s one of our favourite past times. Instead we have chosen to print his details below in the hope that our friends should they ever need a freezer tech in Olbia will not use him. We will also add this to the Cruising Association med net ages to highlight to others this person’s ethics and practices. At least forearmed is forewarned.

4^th – 9^th  August – Pta Pietra Blanca- Sardinia

We decided to head out of Olbia as fast as we could and come and sit on anchor in one of the bays here at Porto Della Taverna.  As is always the way with us just lately something is not right. We turn on the engine when readying to come into the anchorage and the throttle issue is there again. This time after 5 goes of trying to get revs in forward gear it eventually works. We drop anchor and scratch our heads. I spot an Oyster that has an English flag hanging off the stern so Howard rows across to see if they have any experience of the area. They are actually German who and have their boat looked after by a Company in Olbia. They too have a Yanmar engine so we call the contact they give to us to see if they can help. They don’t work weekends or Mondays so the earliest we hear will be Tuesday. There could be worse places to be.

We sit and wait for a call. Meanwhile I text friends who were in the North to see where they are anchored, they are 2 hours away from us. They seem to have lots more wind in the bay they are in than we do, so decide to come across to our bay.  Estrellamar – Roma and Christine duly arrive a few hours later. We last saw them in Mallorca so it’s been a while. We share our experiences and note that they too have been having problems.  At least it’s not just us – it just feels that way. They are heading for Corsica and to friends who will be joining them on board. They are just waiting out until the strong winds which are due on 10^th and 11^th to come through before heading across the Bonifacio straits. We enjoy each other’s company and then they depart to be on their way again.

We get the call that the contact might be able to look at the engine issue today but we need to go to a marina. At €202.00 euros for a night it’s way too rich for our pocket so we ask if we can come into the shipyard. If not maybe we could try to get on the old quay again and they could come to the boat there. Just a waiting game again now as they stop at 13:00 until 17:00 for siesta.

 

10^th – 12^th August – Olbia – Sardinia

Here we are again having got a call to ask us to come into a marina for the engine issue. We tie up on the old commercial quay again, having told them we cannot afford the marina prices and get settled for the engineer. He arrives, looks at the issue which we cannot replicate as its intermittent and says we need to change the gearbox oil. Duly changed and a bill for €427 arrives. He was only here a max of 40 mins and we had the oil on board which we could have done ourselves. We still don’t know if the fault is actually rectified either as he also suggested we need a new clutch. Phone calls to friends back home with engine knowledge and a call to French Marine in Levington, Suffolk come back with several things to try but state that it cannot be the clutch as it would be a problem all the time and not only occasionally. They say that perhaps the prop is not working correctly; we have a folding one that apparently if not working as it should, could cause this issue. As can low battery power, something we have been struggling with since anchoring all this season. We shall try these things first. A process of elimination needs to be done before spending out even more money- the quote for the clutch is €650.00 + labour + additional parts. Lord knows how much the total invoice would be if the €427 for 40 mins is anything to go by.

Winds are high for these 2 days so we are pleased that the work is complete and we can get out again once they have settled. Its Jessica’s birthday on Sunday and we would prefer to be somewhere nicer than here. It’s such a shame we cannot make Sicily or Stromboli as we had hoped but perhaps we shall go further north to the Magdalena Archipelago or try Cala Volpe where all the huge super yachts go. Depends on which way the wind is blowing- we’ll see.